


Latte Boy

by YaoiGoddessofDoom



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-01-05 18:56:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18372095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaoiGoddessofDoom/pseuds/YaoiGoddessofDoom
Summary: Sorry if I take a while uploading these chapters, I try to do at least 3-4 chapters each time I upload just for you lovelies. I understand they are quite short, and I apologize for that. As always, leaving a review always keeps me going with a smile on my face.





	1. Dying Curiosity

Iced vanilla latte, sprinkled cinnamon on top, and a huge dollop of whipped cream.

It was the only order that Lea had remembered when working behind the counter as a barista. This particular customer would walk up in line, murmur an "Uh...I..." for the start of his order before Lea would cut the male off with a warm smile and a line he had grown used to, "The usual?"

Then the customer would nod and thank him softly, just enough for Lea to hear his voice one last time before the male would walk over to his usual spot in the corner of the coffee shop, away from people. Then Lea would prepare his iced coffee despite the fact that it was a bitter cold winter outside, glancing every so often at the male with short silver tresses whom always resumed his usual actions. His head shifted towards the window, chin rested on his hand as if he was looking outside at the bare trees that winter stripped naked, but Lea knew better. His customer was not looking outside, only merely staring in that direction lost in thought.

As Lea would serve the male's coffee at his table, he would smile politely and thank him once more. That was the end of the conversation for that moment as Lea would have to take point behind the counter just to serve other customers.

And there behind the register, the redhead would longingly gaze at the male before his attention would be broken every five minutes by another order or a gentle reminder from his coworker to "stop drooling and get brewing". But that didn't stop him from stealing glances at the silverette.

Just by examining him each day, he noticed other repetitious habits from the shorter male. After he received his coffee, his gaze from the window would shift over to his coffee. He would stir it for what seemed like forever or at least over the time that it was already mixed enough, and that same hazy look would return to his blue, or green, or even a mixture of the two, eyes. Lea counted approximately ten minutes that he would just sit there with that look and he knew whatever was on his mind was a heavy matter because he would catch sight of his mixed eyes watering. The customer would catch himself and grab a napkin, wiping his lips pretending that he spilled something in case anybody noticed him and then naturally dab his eyes.

There were many times that Lea would feel, just like this one, just to go sit across the table and let this silver haired stranger talk to him about what was wrong. Lea would be there to wrap his arms around him strongly, whisper that it was alright, and then allow the male to cry into his chest.

But Lea didn't even know the man's name, and it's not that he didn't try.

When the male would hand Lea a debit card instead of cash, he would try to sneakily cast a glance at the name of the card. But, everytime he swiped, the card faced away from him and before getting to turn it over and read, that was about the time that he handed it back to the silver haired male.

Lea even tried to ask other customers his name, but nobody ever knew him. It was unfortunate for Lea, but it was peculiar that not a single person would know his name. Maybe more frustrating and unlucky were more proper words since Lea was now dying to know his name.

"Just talk to him," a voice cut into his thoughts. Lea nearly jumped and stared at his blonde haired coworker, who was stacking more coffee cups. He stared at her in shock, his eyes darting from the silver haired male to her.

"What are you talking about?" Lea laughed nervously, grabbing a rag with a sudden need to work. He wiped the counter with vigorous circles, smiling at the blonde and then casting his gaze down at his reflection on the counter.

"That boy you're always staring at. You've goo-goo eyed him for, well, ever since he started coming here," Naminé said with a touch of glee lining her voice. "Just talk to him."

"But, I don't even know his name," Lea sighed out, continuously wiping the same spot on the counter.

"Then ask him," Naminé simply said, trotting away with an aura of happiness around her. She seemed to be enjoying Lea's little crush a bit too much to his dismay, but as he contemplated her suggestion, his circular movements slowed to a halt.

"The direct approach?" Lea murmured to himself. His emerald eyes casted on the lonely silver haired male, who was now sipping down the rest of his iced vanilla latte. Lea knew every time he finished his coffee, he liked to grab his straw and fish out the remaining whipped cream with chocolate drizzle and lick it off his straw.

It was an action that Lea found that a child would likely do with ice cream and therefore, found it cute.

Now was the time for the silver haired male to stand up, toss his finished iced coffee in the garbage, and walk back to the counter. Lea knew from experience that he would be approaching soon to go to the tip jar and drop a dollar inside, so he ripped his gaze away from the male to his working hand.

Lea saw the male drop the dollar in from the corner of his eye and he looked up as casually as he could and gave the silverette his signature warm lopsided smile.

"Thank you, sir," Lea said almost too exuberantly because whenever he talked to the male, even if it was the simplest sentence, his stomach was flitting with stinging bumblebees instead of butterflies.

Every time, the silver haired customer would smile out of politeness, but Lea still saw the somewhat somber oceanic eyes that contrasted with his happier lips.

"Have a nice day," he would say before he left, tying his black peacoat, adjusting his earmuffs, and lastly, wrap his contrastingly bright red scarf that appeared to be hand knitted.

"You too, sir."

And Lea would stare at the male leave, all the way through the windows of the eastern part of the coffee shop before he was finally out of view, never to be seen again until the same time tomorrow.

Lea would catch his name tomorrow because frankly, he was tired of calling the male "sir", when he appeared younger than himself.


	2. Fortunate Discovery

If you fail in the beginning, just try and try again.

Lea had listened to Naminé's advice and decided to take the direct approach, but in a not so direct way. He had a brilliant plan that morning and waited for the usual daylight to roll by. He was absentmindedly placing more fresh muffins in the display case as the bell of the entrance rang, stating that someone had walked in. Lea glanced at the time and determined that his silver haired customer had walked in, before even meeting eyes with the male.

"Good morning," he greeted softly, pink lips slowly curling into a half smile. Even if it wasn't a real smile, Lea felt graced with the presence of something almost like it on his lips. "I, uh..."

"You want the usual?" Lea asked with a smirk. He grabbed a coffee cup and tossed it behind him, to which Naminé skillfully captured with her hand. Lea's stomach swooned in delight as the silverette's eyes expanded slightly and he laughed lightly, enjoying the small trick of the two baristas. The redhead had been planning that all morning and was pleased with the resulting sweet sounding noise that he heard.

"Yeah," he replied. He shoved his hands in his coat's pockets almost shyly.

"Your name, then?" Lea asked, eagerness building inside of him as he awaited the answer he had been wanting all along. The blonde barista behind him pulled a pen out of the back of her hair, pointing it towards the cup and ready to write.

"Huh?"

Lea froze up at the look of confusion on the other's face, and the slight tilt of his head. It was cute enough for his brain not to process correctly.

"Your name. We need to know it since you are our lucky one-thousandth customer!" Naminé convincingly joined in, thankfully saving Lea just in time.

"Me?" the silver haired questioned in shock, pointing to himself in emphasis. Lea was just seeing all sorts of emotions today from the other male and it was different from the mild and calm nature the other usually so possessed. It made him like the mysterious male even more.

"I won?" The silverette continued with a small blush.

"You won," Lea repeated with shy smile of his own that the silverette soon copied. "So, we need to know our lucky winner's name."

"Then, can you give the prize to the next customer? I'm sure they would be happier," the male said with a small smile. He took several awkward steps backward and then turned to sit at his usual corner spot.

Lea stood there stunned as his plan did not go accordingly.

"Your little boyfriend is very generous," Naminé mused as she set the empty cup down on the counter, tucking her pen in her tied hair.

"He's not my boyfriend," Lea muttered distractingly, his lips twisting to the side as he stared at the sitting silver haired male. Why did the male have to be too kind to hand off his "prize" to someone else? It made Lea disappointed that his plan did not work.

But more than disappointment, he found himself even more attracted to the unknown male because of his kindness.

After handing the coffee to the silver haired male and exchanging smiles, Lea dragged his feet over to the counter and leaned on the marble tiredly, his palm running over his face. He had been thinking all morning of a way to know the name of his gorgeous customer. Lea's brain was burned out at this point and incapable of thinking of sly ways to know his name. It would take an angel to hatch up a new plan.

As the time neared for the silverette to leave and bid Lea farewell, an angel was sent down to him in the form of a fellow coworker. The male was tying his peacoat tightly to go out into the cold as Lea busied himself with wiping some nearby tables.

Before the silverette turned to leave, a short shout of "Hey, Moonlight!" caused him and Lea respectively to look towards the owner of the voice, which happened to be Naminé.

"Are you referring to me?" the male asks with a clearly confused look.

"Yeah! It's a nickname!" she calls out with a smile full of glee. Lea is just as astonished as the male and he felt like shrinking into a minuscule particle for how outrageously embarrassing Naminé was. Who in the world gives a complete stranger a nickname, and why did it have to be someone he liked? Was she trying to kill him and his chances with humiliation?

"Kill me," Lea muttered under his breath, his hand wiping even vigorously faster.

It wasn't as bad as Lea had thought it to be as the silver haired male looks to the ground in embarrassment, slightly flustered that this girl would just nickname him out of the blue. "It's, it's Riku. H-have a nice day," he murmured loudly enough for Lea to catch it before he turned to leave.

Lea's breath caught. It was a simple name for a seemingly simple man, but it suited him in more ways than one.

"A shore," Lea mused as he glanced up at the ceiling. The meaning of Riku's name was literally the shore and that's what he personified. Eyes the color of the Caribbean, skin the tone of pale sand, and hair that was as silvery as the shells that washed up on the sand.

His name embodied his beauty.

"Boom," Naminé whispered as she walked past Lea. She possessed this sort of cockiness since she was this self-proclaimed winner of finding out Riku's name.

But, Lea was too absorbed in thanking the heavens for sending that angel.


	3. Falling Hard

The next day, it snowed.

The weather report said the snow will get heavier as the day went on, but Lea and Naminé decided to open the coffee shop anyway. They both agreed that it would be safer, however, to close a little earlier than usual.

As Lea stared at the light flurries that were slowly falling, it was nearing that time for his silver haired customer, Riku, to come inside and order his coffee. He was continuing his daily task of wiping the counter clean of any coffee drops or sugar spills when he realized that minutes later, he did not meet the pale face of his new companion.

Lea only assumed it was the weather that held the other male up, and that he shouldn't expect the male to come on time every day (even if it was a habit). He busied himself with a mop, cleaning the floor with several wipes as he stalked about the shop.

Lea glanced back at the clock as it was now hours beyond the time Riku was supposed to arrive. He stared at the corner seat of the shop, hoping for the silver haired male to magically appear out of thin air.

But he never did.

And as Lea was trying to pass time by making himself busy, his emerald eyes gazed at the park right across the coffee shop. There, past the flurries of powdered snow, was a person sitting on a swing set. He would not have paid much attention if it were not for two reasons. Who in their right mind would want to be outside now, and why was Riku there on the swing by himself?

That red bright hand knitted scarf was what first gave away the identity of the male. Lea was glad that the weather did not prevent the silverette from venturing outside, but what bothered him was that he was not inside.

As it grew nearer to them closing shop, the sky was mildly dark. Lea kept turning his head towards the window, and Riku was still there. He had not moved from his original spot and was there for hours.

Lea did not prepare any iced Vanilla latte that day. But he did clean up more than usual, so it took less time to close up the shop at the end.

He locked the door, the snow now heavier and he was both feet deep in the snow. It was sticking which meant Lea had to leave now. But something pulled him to not leave right away.

Lea walked over to the male who was only swaying gently on the swing, his head perking up as the crunch of the snow gave away the redhead's presence.

"You're still here," Lea softly said, not sure how to strike up conversation with the male. Riku's feet planted on the ground beneath him to stop himself from moving. He did not answer verbally, but only gave a small nod. "Aren't you cold?"

Lea examined the pink flushed cheeks of the male, the shivering form, the amount of snow sticking to his covered body. Riku shook his head, even if he was shivering and even if his fingers were gripped tightly along the swing's chains.

"I know it's none of my business, but you should get home before you get sick," Lea murmured. "Plus there's going to be a storm tonight."

"I, I can't go home," Riku spoke for the first time. His head dangled sadly, and his hands slowly lowered on the chains.

"Do you need a ride?" Lea offered.

Riku glanced up with a bitten lip, and shook his head. "No. I can get there. I just can't get inside." His teeth chattered as he looked back down.

"Do you need somewhere to stay?" Lea asked.

Riku shook his head firmly, but his shivering convinced Lea otherwise. The redhead felt responsible for getting the male out of the cold. "Come on," he encouraged as he gently guided the silver haired male off the swing. Despite that he rejected Lea's help earlier with words, Riku let him do as he pleased. He was led to Lea's car and they soon took refuge from the growing snowstorm outside.

Without a word, Lea turned on the heater to warm the shivering male in the back seat. He reached underneath the driver's seat to grab a snow swiper.

"You stay in here and warm up, okay? I need to clean up the car before I drive," Lea informed with a smile, closing the door. He pulled his own gloves on, regretting he did not bring a scarf or hat. Oh well.

Lea circled around his car which already buried up to half of its wheels. Getting out would be easy as soon as he finished clearing his windows. With the snow brush, he swiped the glass of the frozen crystals. He dusted underneath his windshield wipers, back and front, and trailed over to Riku's side. After clearing the window on his side, he stared inside through the glass.

Riku was currently rubbing his hands together for needed warmth, his head tilted down towards them. His eyes then shifted towards Lea and they widened only slightly when he noticed the redhead staring at him.

Lea was overwhelmed by a strong burning in his cheeks, and he quickly went to the back of his car to clean the back window. Riku had caught him staring and that was embarrassing. He hadn't meant to.

With one big swipe on the window, he returned to the driver's side and went inside. He closed the door and let out a long breath and looked back with a small smile.

"H-hey, ready?" Lea stuttered, still embarrassed from before.

"Ready."

The redhead drove slowly through the snow, turning his windshield wipers on. It wasn't too safe to be driving in these conditions, but Lea drove with caution all the way to when he pulled into his driveway, which he would be shoveling the next morning when there would likely be no work.

Lea parked, turned off the ignition, and looked back at the no longer shivering male. "We're here."

Lea noticed the hesitant way Riku looked outside. "It's okay, we're just steps away from warmth," he assured with a smile, which the silver haired male gladly returned.

The redhead stepped out into the cold with the silverette. Lea would have take his time going inside, but any more time he would spend outside, he would have to see Riku slowly go back to his original shivering state. So naturally he hurried.

Of course, Lea forgot that the steps leading onto his porch had black ice since winter started.

His long legs were flailing and his arms were outstretched to balance himself and prevent him from falling. It was like comically watching a thin newborn dawn taking its first steps fresh out of its mother's womb. Lea would have fallen straight onto his back if it were not for a pair of hands gripping onto his waist at the last moment.

An unusually strong pair of hands.

"A-are you okay?" Riku asked with deep breaths, steadying Lea back up to stand straight. The redhead's emerald eyes expanded at the mere feeling of Riku's hands against a part of his body. The silver haired customer had saved him from an unsightly amount of bruises and even when he was trembling from the cold, Riku's glove covered palms still felt warm through his jacket.

"You're pretty strong for a small thing," Lea murmured out, stepping carefully with Riku still holding him to the door.

"I'm not that small." Riku smiled as he finally released the redhead. Lea gulped as he felt the warmth of Riku's hands leave his body. He was just saved by the cute silverette, and it was just so unbelievably casual.

Lea opened the front door of his home. He slipped off his soaked shoes from the snow and Riku followed doing the same. "You can set your jacket and things on the rack."

Riku nodded, slipping off his wet peacoat, gloves, and earmuffs with little care onto the rack. However, when it came to his bright, red scarf, he looked at it with a mixture of downcast and caring eyes before carefully setting it on a hook.

Lea figured the scarf may have had some value to the male. But, he was too distracted with the loose sweater Riku was wearing since it now casually hung off his shoulder, leaving it naked.

Without noticing the stare from the other male, Riku shrugged his clothing back into place, his shoulder now covered. Lea let out the breath he had been holding, not believing he had been distracted just by his porcelain skin.

Riku's eyes scanned around the living room he had stepped into and at an attempt for small talk, he said, "Nice house. I really like it."

"Yeah," Lea distractedly said, shaking his head to focus. "Uh, do you want to get into new clothes?" The redhead gestured to the bottom of Riku's jeans, both legs being moist due to stepping in the snow.

"Yes, if you are offering some?" Riku murmured out nervously with an embarrassed blush.

"Be back in a bit," Lea announced before leaving. If he was going to have Riku for the night, he had to learn some important lessons.

Lea needed to learn not to be a complete spaz in front of the silver haired male.


	4. Accidents Happen

As soon as Lea had given the silver haired male a pair of comfy biker shorts and a white tank top, he immediately regretted his choice of clothing.

Anything he chose for the male meant that Riku would wear it, and since the silver haired male was not picky (and Lea had hoped he would be), he took the clothes with a soft thanks. The redhead froze in place. They were the first clothes he grabbed from his casual pile but...

Was he unconsciously and secretly a pervert for picking out those clothes?

"I'm a sick bastard," Lea softly gasped.

As Riku changed into his clothing, Lea was secretly mortified at what he picked out. Because everywhere Riku walked, his eyes followed. Those shorts fit snugly around the cheeks of his butt, the front of his groin, and around his shapely thighs.

Lea eventually and slowly understood the meaning behind Riku's earlier words, "I'm not that small". The silver haired male had a toned muscular body that was not overly huge, and the tight shorts clearly showed that. The tank top he was wearing that was slightly baggy on Lea fit better on Riku and through the huge arm loop on the side of it, Lea saw past the clothing and had a glimpse of his toned pec.

Lea had to grab a pair of sweatpants for the male instead. A pair of questioning eyes looked at the redhead before the owner of them was gently pushed into a bathroom with a pair of sweatpants forced into his hands. Lea hoped Riku had gotten the hint to change into sweatpants. It felt wrong just to let the silverette walk around in barely anything, and Lea was NOT a pervert.

He excused himself to bed early lest he faint just in case Riku didn't change.

When he awoke the next morning, Lea nearly had forgotten he had a guest, so as he stripped his shirt on the way to his small laundry room, he froze at the mere sight of a sleeping silver angel on the way. There Riku was, buried up to his neck in the covers on the couch he had offered him to sleep on. His short silver hair was strewn about as if he moved a lot in his sleep.

Lea knelt down to the couch to inspect the male even closer. His lips were parted and released some even breaths. He was still contently in a deep sleep, or at least it seemed like it. Without thinking about the consequences, Lea's hand reached out to gently brush his fingers along Riku's cheek. It was so smooth, so soft-

Silver eyelashes fluttered open to reveal two murky teal eyes. Riku blankly stared ahead at him and Lea turned into a statue. His hand had froze and was still touching Riku's face, but the silverette seemed to not notice.

When Riku sat up, stretched his arms above his head, and released a big, tired yawn, Lea relaxed and his arms started working again. However, his eyes trailed down to the blankets that slid off Riku's body.

His white tank top hiked up during his sleep to show the beginning signs of abs that were starting to peek out of skin.

Lea suddenly felt like a toothpick compared to this attractive customer.

"What...what time is it?" Riku drawled out, rubbing his eyes with gently closed fists.

"Around nine," Lea said in no more than a whisper. His throat was full of cotton and he cleared it with a loud noise. He forced his eyeballs towards his window only to see it no longer snowing outside. However, it seemed that the snow almost reached a quarter of the door which means he was stuck in this house alone with Riku for only a while longer.

"Oh man, it snowed a lot," Riku murmured as he followed Lea's line of sight. He almost looked apologetic as he threw the covers off of himself. "I'm sorry for intruding."

Lea was glad to see Riku had worn the sweatpants. He was even more glad to see the silverette fix and pull down his shirt. "It's alright. So since you're here, want some coffee and something to eat?"

Riku ran his hands through his messy hair, smiling at Lea. "Yeah, sure. That'd be nice, Lea."

The redhead froze, his body posed in an awkward stance. Hearing his name leave the silverette's mouth had shocked him for a moment. "You know my name?"

"Nametag," Riku simply said with a small smile, standing up with a laugh.

Lea glanced down and flushed with embarrassment. There was his blue-collared orange work shirt with the name tag still on it, showing he had went to sleep with his work clothes on. He sprinted through the house like a fool only to change into some basketball shorts and a t-shirt.

How embarrassing.

Minutes later, Lea strolled into the kitchen and prepared breakfast with coffee for the two of them. "It may not be an iced vanilla latte, but it'll do," Lea said with a smile, sliding the mug over to the sitting silverette.

"Thanks." Riku looked over his breakfast. Lea took note of the hungry glazed look in them, but they soon turned murky. It was similar to how his customer would act right after he received his coffee.

Riku was picking at his food slowly and Lea was about to comment about the food getting cold, but held his tongue. Instead, he tried a happier approach and grabbed his kitchen radio to fill the kitchen with cheery noise. As Lea turned on the radio, he scrolled through the stations. He chuckled as he stopped at a station that was playing some classic old songs.

"You know how to dance to this?" Lea asked, referring to the song that was playing on the radio. It was an old and upbeat swing vintage tune.

"Huh?" Riku's head jerked up with questionable eyes. "No, I don't."

That was all that was said on the subject, or at least that's what the shorter male had been expecting. What had actually happened was that Lea stood up with some released energy, gently grabbing the other male's arm and encouraging him to stand up.

"C'mon, I'll show you!"

Riku's words stuttered out of his mouth, and he shook his head with wide eyes. His mouth was caught in an open gape, repeating the words, "Oh no, no, I have two left feet. No, no."

Even so, Lea forced the protesting male right onto his feet with a hand. He used his other hand to snap to the beat and the whole time, he kept a smile on his face. "Okay, so basically, you have to go feet and hip crazy."

"Really, I don't know how to- woah!" Riku was suddenly whisked by two pulling persistent hands.

The silver haired male had no clue as to what the barista was doing. His feet were moving in a rhythmic pattern and although he was trying to keep up, he was failing immensely due to the fact he had no dancing in his blood at all.

But, even as he was failing, Lea danced with the inexperienced male, swinging their arms back and forth, his legs and his heels bouncing. Eventually, Riku caught on and as ridiculous as he felt, his body swung back and fro.

Then Lea heard the beautiful noise of laughter leave Riku's mouth.

As the song finished and left the uncoordinated and coordinated pair panting, Lea commented, "See, not so shabby."

Riku leaned against the counter, laughing freely now. He may have felt and looked like a complete idiot, but he admitted, "That was the most fun I've had in a while."

Lea's chuckle slowly died as he tried to figure out the meaning of Riku's words. The silver haired male still smiled, his eyes closed. He no longer looked solemn like before, but blissful now. Lea wanted to make him feel like this every day just to get that sad look out of his eyes.

"Thank you," Riku murmured.

It was strange what a couple of words from the male would do to Lea. It was as if a magnetic force was causing the redhead to walk over to Riku boldly. As Riku's eyelids finally lifted, Lea had closed the distance between them.

Lea's hand casually held the counter, his body increasingly close to the silverette. He was leaning over slowly and Riku wondered what he was doing.

"Lea?" Riku murmured in concern. But, when he finally got the hint of Lea's objective, the distance between the redhead's leaning head and his own decreased until a pair of lips grazed against his.

And that's all the kiss was, a gentle graze of soft pouty flesh against flesh.

Lea couldn't refrain himself from kissing Riku, even if the male was unresponsive. Something about the male's words made his insides all fuzzy. Riku admitted Lea had made him happy in the longest time. It meant the redhead had given him something as wonderful as happiness, so he thought a kiss would give him something more and would show that Lea was the person to keep giving him that happiness.

But, as Lea pulled away, the look of shock instead of the adoration he had expected came across Riku's face.

"I'm, I'm so sorry," Riku murmured awkwardly. Lea wondered why he would be saying sorry if he wasn't the one that pursued this, but it all made sense to him with the next words. "I have...I have a fiancé. And..."

Lea felt like he was punched in the gut twice. Something knocked the wind out of him at that moment and he did not want to trust his voice. But, something fought to get out of his throat and he nearly choked out, "Oh, oh my god. I'm sorry, I..."

Lea realized how close he was to Riku and he backed away significantly. His fingers ran over his own lips in the utter shock of what he just did. What was he thinking?

He wasn't thinking.

"I'm so sorry," Lea repeated. As Riku nervously glanced down, Lea shuffled past the table to grab some clothes for the outside. He threw on yesterday's jeans and wore his heaviest winter clothing. He felt like a coward for running away from his problems, but he didn't want to make Riku any more comfortable by sticking around him.

"Where are you going?" Riku asked curiously, mildly blushing from the embarrassing awkward moment shared between them. Lea fully knew the question was to break this tension, but his nerves weren't having that.

"To shovel," Lea answered, avoiding eye contact.

"O-oh. Okay, have fun."

Awkward indeed. Lea knew he had made Riku so uncomfortable to say things that made no sense. Why would someone have fun shoveling the snow?

Through the whole day and even all the way through the night, barely any words were exchanged between the two men, even over lunch and dinner. It was mostly due to Lea politely avoiding the silver haired male and not striking any conversation.

It may have been a wrong approach, but Lea felt compelled to not say or do anything about it. After all, he felt like a home wrecker for kissing a man who was destined to be married soon.

As Lea was being this gentlemanly self to the time he was going to sleep, even he couldn't stop imagining the feel of Riku's lips against his own.


	5. Ten Digits

The snow had plenty of time to melt as it neared the next morning.

This time, Lea knew he wouldn't be able to give the space he was willing to put between himself and Riku. There was the matter of him going to work and not being able to leave the silverette here by himself. He also didn't want to disturb the angel from his slumber, but he had no choice.

Lea had to gently wake up the male and offered to drive him to his place on the way back to his job. But, the silver haired male refused even if Lea slightly worried.

But he had a job to go to and would have to trust Riku's word, so he left the house and went. He was currently stashing more plastic utensils into containers and refilling the sugar on the counter.

There was this building bundle of anticipation as he realized that now was around the time Riku would be arriving in the shop. Unlike yesterday, he was right on time, only he had apprehension lining his expression.

Lea quickly leaned over the counter to hiss at Naminé, "Take his order for me."

"What?" Naminé asked back with a whisper, but Lea escaped into the employee's bathroom before she knew it. He splashed his face with water in an attempt to calm down and tied his hair back into an unruly ponytail. He covered the top of his head with a green bandana and peeked out of the restroom just in time to see Riku's iced coffee being served.

Lea breathed a sigh of relief and went to lean over the counter in a nervous manner. His body rocked back and forth and his fingers were jittery.

"Riku slept over my house yesterday," Lea explained as he bit his bottom lip. Like the thirsty girl for gossip she was, Naminé leaned over interestedly.

"Oh my gosh, you guys totally did it," the blonde concluded with a blush on her face.

"No, no, no it wasn't like that at all. I kissed him, on the lips."

"Okaaaay," Naminé drawled out, obviously waiting for more. She looked disappointed as she pouted. "Don't tell me that's the end of the story."

"He's got a fiancé."

"Oh, Lea, I'm sorry," she apologized. She twirled her hair absentmindedly sighing, "All the good ones are gone, hmm?"

"And I still like him," Lea hissed out, accentuating the problem of his situation. Now he had Naminé's full undivided attention once again.

At this Naminé immediately shook her head in obvious denial. "No. No way, Lea. You stop liking that man this instant."

"Naminé, yesterday I made him laugh. Usually I get nothing more than a polite smile, but he laughed. He's usually so solemn looking," Lea explained, his eyes unable to stop peeking at the person they were discussing about.

"Lea," she started seriously, grabbing a hold of his shoulders. "Do. Not. Mess. With. Someone. Who. Has. A. Fiancé."

Lea turned his head towards the sitting silver haired customer. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as Riku returned to his old solemn habits of staring out into the window, stirring his coffee, dabbing his wet eyes, then getting up to leave the store with a completely full cup of iced coffee-

"Lea, no," she hissed before the redhead turned away to follow his customer outside on the wooden bench.

He immediately received Riku's attention from the door's ringing bell, and was in the middle of wiping his newly forming tears. Riku immediately glanced down at the concrete ground.

Lea didn't know how to start this exactly and anything he would say would just be awkward. He looked down at Riku who was quietly wiping his eyes with his napkin, and then he froze.

In the short amount of time that he arrived at work, what caused the male to actually excuse himself outside to manage his leaking eyes? Lea assumed the worst, deeming himself as the cause of this.

"Oh my god, you told your fiancé that someone kissed you," Lea whispered out sadly, running his hand stressfully through his hair. "And she left you."

"What?"

"Oh my god, I ruined your relationship," Lea murmured with a shocked tone. "You told her and she doesn't want you anymore."

"Him," Riku corrected, staring at Lea as he plopped himself on the seat next to the silverette. Lea's ears perked up at the mention of the partner's gender. The redhead buried his head in his hands and growled out in frustration, trying to rid himself of these hopeful thoughts.

"I'll do anything to get you back together with him. I'll, I'll convince him that I kissed you and that you had nothing to do with it." Lea leaned his head back up and apologetically looked at Riku. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry..."

Lea wondered why Riku just quietly stared at him and suddenly, the other burst into a small smile.

"You're very caring, Lea, but none of that happened. If you're wondering why I'm crying, it's because of something else," Riku explained, the corner of his lips still lifting.

"Oh," Lea said stupidly, now feeling like an awkward moron. "I, then...why are you- well. It's not my place to ask, right?"

Riku stared as the redhead fumbled for words and his face leaned in encouragingly trying to get a coherent sentence out of the stuttering male. "It's fine."

"I could be your shoulder to lean on, if you ever...need it. I like it when you laugh."

Riku chuckled at Lea's choice of words. They didn't flow eloquently, but they still weaved together in a way that showed the redhead cared about him, even if he was a stranger.

"If you ever want to talk sometime in a quiet place, we could, we could go somewhere together alone," Lea offered with a smile. He was feeling more and more nervous as Riku kept staring at him, only blinking whenever he needed to without a trace of any solid emotion, but curiosity, lining his features. Then the redhead rushed out, "Not like a date or anything, got it memorized?"

Riku burst out in the most exuberant laughter then, causing Lea to nearly slip off his own seat in surprise. The redhead held onto his own racing heart, getting startled and he joined in with Riku's laughter, trying to mask his sudden jump of fear.

"What a strange phrase. Sure, I would like to go out with you sometime. I need a friend right now, if you couldn't tell."

Lea breathed out slowly and nodded. There, they exchanged cell phone numbers, Riku laughing at Lea for punching in the numbers incorrectly at least three times. His fingers weren't stable enough to handle such a simple task due to the fact it was cold outside.

"Just call me when you want to go on...an **outgoing** ," Riku said carefully with a small blush, avoiding the word "date" at all costs. Lea was glad for that since he would most likely melt into a puddle right on the spot if he uttered something like that.

"Okay. I should go back to..." Lea trailed off as he stood up, letting his finger point to the café to make up for his lack of words.

"Yes, you should go back to work."

Lea smiled as they waved their goodbyes. Even the persistent glare and a disappointing head shake from Naminé didn't waver his smile. He looked down to see Riku's phone number on his phone to make sure today was real.

Yeah, it was real.


	6. Breathtaking Beauty

What should have taken him several minutes to do took several hours for Lea when he was currently taking a short break from his shift.

He was hesitant in dialing Riku's number, only somewhat lacking confidence with his plan for the two of them. He naturally picked a place that was quiet enough for them to talk, but still enjoyable for going out. But, what if Riku thought the idea was lame?

There would be only one way to find out, and that would be growing a pair and calling the silver haired male himself. Lea dialed the number and waited for the other to pick up. He was about to bail before the third ring, but a voice picked up on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Riku, this is Lea. Do you have a minute?" Lea asked cooly. Or at least he thought it came out in a chill, even tone.

"Yes, I have some time. What's up?" Lea nearly stuttered for words, until Riku laughed out slightly. He was just making a fool of himself for no reason. Well, actually, it was one reason and that was because Riku's voice was so attractively close to his ear.

"Uh, how do you feel about hanging out at the aquarium?"

Lea regretted the suggestion as soon as it came out of his mouth. It sounded so UNCOOL when he mentioned it out loud. What made him think of something so stupid? As if Riku thought looking at fish was interesting.

Lea slumped in his seat with a silent groan. Now he would be Mr. Loser forever.

"I love aquariums. That sounds like a wonderful idea," Riku mused, sounding excited on the other line. Lea froze as he was dumbfounded his plan actually worked out for him. "Are you still there?"

Lea then shot up straight with the silliest grin on his face like the dork he felt he was. Well, what were the odds? "Yeah, I'm here, sorry. So, okay. Want to go with me tomorrow?"

"That's fine with me. Text me the time and the address?"

"Okay, I will." Lea wanted to talk more to the male on the other side of his phone, but the piercing blue eyes of a fellow coworker was starting to make him feel self-conscious. "I think I have to go back to work now. She's giving me the death glare," he murmured unsure.

A soft laugh from the receiver made Lea's brain melt like an ice cube on a summer's day. "Alright. See you tomorrow."

Lea smiled as he flipped his phone closed, but it soon dropped when he realized he would soon feel the wrath of the evil blonde she-witch. He reworded that phrase. She wasn't evil nor she was a witch, she was just concerned about this newfound relationship he was growing with the engaged silver haired male. Lea noted that he should really respect the blonde more as she really did truly care about him, even if she was just a close co-worker.

"I'm going with him tomorrow..." Lea started carefully, not wanting to give away too many details.

"Oh really? Because according to the schedule, you work tomorrow," Naminé clarified with a raise of her eyebrow.

"Annnnnd since I know I'm working tomorrow, I was hoping I could take the day off and-"

"No," Naminé cut him off short, rubbing her rag aggressively along the outside of the display case. "You're not running off with a man with a fiancé!"

"I'm not running off, Naminé."

"Oh, so you're going to get your heart broken instead?" she huffed. Lea expected an angry look from her, but it was just full of concern. "I don't want to butt into your life. But, you're not the main person in his life, nor will you ever be."

The redhead winced as those harsh, but true words hit his heart. "Nor do I try to be. I just want to be his friend," Lea explained calmly, putting his hands up in defense. "It's not a date." Even though Lea secretly wished it was. "I'm just trying to get his mind off of things."

"...Fine," Naminé finally caved in and Lea whooped for joy even if it were in public, but his cheers were interrupted by, "Only on one condition." 

Oh great, there always had to be a catch.

"You take my shift on Christmas."

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Lea whined like a child, but the blonde female cut him off once more. "Wait, what the hell, we're working on Christmas? Whaaaat?"

"It's something small to give up for someone so important to you, hmm?"

So Lea finally conceded defeat with a heavy sigh.

And Lea sighed again the next morning when he was having trouble picking out clothes for their totally-not-a-date, or as Riku had phrased it: an "outgoing". He was tempted to call his coworker for advice of what to wear that would be suitable for this not-a-date, but he was old enough to do this on his own even if Lea was too nervous to trust himself with his own decisions. Plus, if she had known how much effort he was putting into a single outfit, he would never hear the end of it.

So the redhead went with the choice of a green woven sweater and dark jeans that were neither too baggy nor too tight. He thought the choice of clothing was reasonable enough, so on the way out, he threw on a light grey coat and leather gloves.

Before Lea made it out of the door, he grabbed his camera that hung around the hook. It wouldn't hurt if he took pictures inside.

When he picked up the silver haired male at his choice of destination, the coffee shop, Riku strapped himself in the passenger's seat and gave Lea a small smile.

Emerald eyes scanned Riku over briefly. He didn't know the full extent of his outfit, but he could see his dark grey jeans, spiffed up black shoes, and the addition of a grey plaid newspaper's boy hat sitting on his head.

"I like your hat," Lea complimented, but he liked how the hat looked on Riku rather than the item itself.

"Thank you..."

The rest of the ride was in silence and Lea wasn't one to break it. When they exited the car and saw the outside of the building, Riku was the first to utter words.

"Wow," Riku said in awe as he exited the car. He was admiring the size of the building. It was practically the size of a huge white dome with the building's name, "Atlantica", wrapped around the front of the dome. The letters seemed to be filled with water and contained mechanical goldfish swimming inside.

Lea was currently fumbling with the settings of his camera, preparing it for future pictures. He tested it out on the front of the building, the shutter's click grabbing Riku's attention.

"Let's go inside," Lea suggested, motioning to the building with a tilt of his head. The shorter male gladly followed the taller one's lead, trailing closely to him.

The place wasn't crowded, but the main lobby was bubbly with voices. It would be more quiet when they got inside, or at least Lea had hoped. All he had to do was avoid the typical group of children that were on a field trip (as he assumed so since all of the children wore a shirt with the same color and logo), and avoid anybody in general. He would try to stay behind people and walk slowly; after all, they seemed to have all the time in the world.

When it came time for them to pay the cashier for admission, both of the males dutifully took out their wallets. Lea noticed Riku before the silverette noticed him, so he got his attention by poking him on the shoulder.

Riku glanced up curiously, saying something to him. Because of the noise level, his head leaned in towards the silverette to hear him better.

"I said I can pay," Riku repeated.

"No, I could," Lea argued, but the silver haired male looked questionably at him. With a soft sigh, knowing Riku didn't hear him clearly, he spoke right into his ear. "I said I'm going to pay for you."

"O-oh." Riku's head leaned back significantly. The redhead wondered why he had jerked back all of a sudden, but the small blush from the male told him all. If Lea had to guess, it would be because he was close to the silver haired male. Maybe it reminded Riku of their one way kiss. It definitely reminded Lea of it.

"S-sorry," Lea apologized with a clear of his throat. He was hiding a blush of his own as he turned around and took this embarrassment as a sneaky opportunity to buy two admission tickets.

"Lea!" The redhead acted as if he couldn't hear Riku, pretending that the noises from surrounding people prevented him from hearing his own name. He pried Riku away from the booth by the arm, going through the turnstile with him.

"Hmm, did you say something?" Lea asked as he played dumb. As he saw the serious frown on Riku's face, he laughed lightly as he laid a hand on his shoulder. "Riku, it's fine. It's chill."

"I want to pay you back," the silverette murmured with a bite of his lip. There was a coat drop off near the entrance to the actual aquarium, and as they walked there, Riku was fumbling with his wallet.

"You could pay me back by having a good time," Lea said, looking down to open up his jacket. As he finished with the task of undoing his coat, his eyes peeked upward to see Riku shrugging off his own heavy clothing. Lea now saw what was underneath the peacoat. Riku was donning a white collar shirt with a light blue sweater vest over it.

He couldn't stop staring at the simply, but classy look Riku had pulled off with the simplest garments. Lea thought what would have gone through Riku's mind to make himself look more attractive than usual.

"If you're sure," Riku murmured pensively. "Something wrong?"

As the attention was brought upon the redhead, Lea broke out of his trance. Riku was concerned about the long amount of time he had been staring into space when in reality, it was right at Riku. He suddenly lifted his camera to divert Riku's attention from him to the camera.

The silverette positively froze in his place, his eyes going as wide as a deer in headlights. "What are you doing?"

"Starting our fun with a couple of pictures."

"I'm not exactly photogenic," Riku rebutted.

Lea pulled down his camera and smiled as he walked over to the male. "Nonsense," he laughed, his hand brushing away at air. "I'll see for myself."

With a couple of more protests, Lea finally managed to sit the both of them relatively close on a bench just so they could both fit in the picture. He turned around the camera and although this wasn't the most professional way to take a picture, he was going to do it anyway. "Ready?"

"Sure?" Riku replied unsure.

The camera clicked and Lea went to inspect the picture right away, but Riku covered the screen with his hand.

"Don't look while I'm here. I don't want to see how bad I came out," Riku argued as he suddenly jumped out of his bench seat, heading for the sliding door. Lea marveled at his elusive behavior, chasing after the retreating male with a fast stride. He didn't expect Riku to stop short right after the door closed behind them, bumping right into his back.

Lea was about to apologize when Riku suddenly murmured, "Wow..."

There they were in a tunnel of oceanic beauty. The ground they walked on was solid, but the walls were clear plexiglass, beyond it swarms of sea creatures. They were practically surrounded by the ocean and it was as if they weren't looking at an aquarium, but were inside it themselves.

Riku stared and walked slowly to the eastern rounded wall, running his hand against it. "This is..."

The silver haired male was natural and almost graceful with his actions. The subtle run of his fingers and palm against the glass, his awed eyes, and his open slightly gaping lips made it seem like he was in this secret wonderland. Lea couldn't refrain from slowly lifting the camera to capture this child-like beauty of the customer.

After the shutter of his camera, Riku turned towards Lea, causing the camera man to freeze. He expected to be lashed out against for taking a picture, but instead was graced with a beautiful, true smile from the silverette.

"It's so beautiful."

Lea's finger visibly shook as he took another image. "Absolutely breathtaking," the redhead commented, although he was speaking about something, or rather someone, entirely different.

Riku's smile had bested even the aqua paradise they were currently in.


	7. Deep Affections

Riku was curious in this small maze of an aquarium and the results of the photographs came out beautiful on Lea's camera screen.

The silverette traced his finger along the bronze animal descriptions that hung along underneath the glass, stopping to read each one with a smile. Lea thought the thirst for knowledge and the thriving curiosity the other had was endearing. Riku was even so caught up in this marine biology adventure that he didn't seem to mind the excessive photos Lea had been taking of him, the ocean life, and even both together. Or maybe he did not mind.

Lea didn't even realize the capable danger of growing deeper affection for the other male during this trip. Like Riku was stuck in his oceanic wonderland, Lea was too deep in his own world of warm affection for the silverette.

The redhead's head swooned whenever he would hear the sweet call of his name. "Lea, check this out!" or "Lea, help me find this fish?" or even the rare "Lea, let's take a picture together."

Lea would savor those rare moments of Riku becoming comfortable with him, standing next to the male, or getting close enough so that their cheeks almost brushed together. Sometimes, Riku would even be adventurous enough to snag the camera from the redhead and take a picture of himself with the redhead.

Lea saw a small elevator coming up ahead and decided he would be the adventurous one this time. He grasped Riku's arm and pulled him into the compartment that looked like it could hold a large capacity of people.

"Wonder where this leads to," Riku wondered out loudly, his voice a lot more lively than usual.

"Guess we'll find out," Lea answered back, the elevator door closing. Without the use of a button, they automatically descended south. It appeared to be one of those elevators that were already programmed to go to specific areas.

Lea only became slightly apprehensive when the lighted area from the ocean disappeared above them. They seemed to be going away from the light and lowering straight into darkness.

As the machine stopped, the lights inside the small space became dimmer and dimmer. Lea's face focused on Riku's until it disappeared in the darkness. He noticed the door in front of him glowed similarly to a glow in the dark toy, and it opened.

Lea was about to instinctively pull out his cell phone for a use of light, but he saw a path of dim seashell and seaweed patterns on the floor beneath him, leading straight out of the elevator. It seemed to be a path of some sort and the redhead was about to follow the glowing pattern.

Lea was startled by a pair of gripping hands around his arm. "Lea?" he heard Riku's voice echo in the dark directly right next to him.

"I'm right here," Lea assured the male.

And as the redhead started to move forward, he didn't warn the clinging male he was taking some steps forward. "Ahh!" A head made direct contact against his back and almost caused him to fall face forward if it were not for the flailing pair of arms that held Lea from behind.

"I'm sorry!" Riku gasped out, holding more tightly. "I didn't know you were moving that soon."

Lea was currently chanting in his head to get a grip and calm down his beating heart. The silverette's arms were just wrapped so tightly around his waist.

"Lea?" Riku called worriedly after the redhead did not answer for moments.

"Yeah?" the redhead gulped out.

"Where are we?"

Lea did not know the answer to that question, so he decided to discover it on his own. He informed the silver haired male he was starting to move, but Riku only tripped on his own feet again, falling right into Lea's back once more.

"You should walk beside me so you won't trip," Lea suggested with a light shake of his head.

Riku had followed Lea's orders, but he added a second precaution that stunned the taller male. The redhead felt a hand softly grab his and an almost tiny voice whispered out, "I don't want to get separated."

Lea did not procure anything intelligible to say. It was hard to talk when your brain felt like honey and your skin was experiencing the most pleasant tingles. It was difficult to think that the two of them were not on a date. Lea still felt the warm hand of Riku's encased in his palm and he was glad for the darkness surrounding them. It was successfully hiding his blush.

But something brought Lea back to reality as one of Riku's fingers brushed against his, revealing something wrapped around his digit. Cool smooth metal brushed against Lea's skin, feeling evidence of a ring. It was a harsh reminder to Lea that the man was engaged.

This only brought down the older male's mood just by a little.

"No wonder why it's so dark down here. Look," he heard Riku murmur. As they walked further in the area, the glowing path they walked on branched off into several, leading to smaller dimly glowing aquarium tanks. Riku guided the both of them towards one of the tanks. The water inside was a dark blue nearing black and through the aid of dim light, Lea saw Riku's shadowy face nearing the glass to see what was inside. "These are deep sea animals. See?"

Lea didn't know what Riku was seeing; all he could see where bioluminescent seaweed with glow in the dark pebbles decorating the bottom of the tank. With a closer look, he finally saw something poke through the seaweed until it was fully visible. Its body was a translucent shining white, its insides seen and visible with a glow. Its lower jaw was longer than its upper jaw, sharp thin teeth lining the outside of its lips.

"Is that an angler fish?" Lea murmured, handling his camera with his free hand.

"Lea," Riku called softly. "Can you see me?"

"Huh?" Lea was slightly caught off guard by the sudden question. It was a shot from the dark, no pun intended. "Barely."

The silver haired male did not answer for a second. Lea thought that was all he wanted to know and they would be continuing this adventure in the deep, but a sigh in the darkness showed Riku was going to say more. "My fiancé. His name is Sora."

Lea thought it was strange how he did not know anything about this fiancé of Riku's, but he could already tell the silver haired male cared for him by how Riku uttered his name. It was fleeting, soft, and showed he had adored the man immensely.

"He makes friends so easily that I just fail to keep up sometimes. He's outgoing, but I'm obviously not as you can tell," he continued without a single beat.

Lea smiled at that. But that's what he liked about the silver haired male.

"I'm holding your hand not because I'm afraid of the dark, but because I'm afraid of being alone." In emphasis, Riku's hand squeezed the redhead's even tighter. Lea saw the movement of Riku's other hand slowly run across the glass. "I don't want to be alone like this little guy here."

The transition of Riku's sentences were all over the place. Lea still intently listened, however, waiting for the main point of bringing this up.

"We haven't been able to spend time together as frequently. Work gets in the way for the both of us and when we do have time, there's the matter of Sora's friends," Riku continued.

"What did they do?" Lea couldn't prevent himself from asking.

"It's so stupid," Riku sighed, not fully answering the question that had been given to him. "I want to be with him alone. Like the old days, when we were just best friends. Only now, as...lovers. With no friends around."

The taller male knew there were missing components of the story. But he wasn't one to force answers; Lea just was grateful he was being shared some information. "Why don't you just ask him," Lea suggested.

Lea found it ironic that those were the exact words Naminé had told him when he was trying to find out Riku's name. Déjà vu.

"Isn't that selfish of me to pull him away from his friends?" Riku questioned softly.

"Sometimes, it's good to be selfish. So, you should ask him to come to the coffee shop with you, tomorrow."

It felt odd to help Riku. Lea felt like his own obstacle and at the same time, a good friend. He was preventing the chance of possibly being together with the silverette, but felt good in doing so. After all, Lea was willing to suffer some heartbreak just for Riku to smile for once when he sat down in that very chair in his café.

"What if it doesn't work?" Riku contemplated, sounding worried.

"Trust me, it'll work. He'd be stupid to not realize you want to be with him. He'd be even stupider if he said no," Lea added with a gentle tone.

What Lea had said was an equivalent of indirectly saying, "He'd be stupid because you're a really great guy and I like you a lot". But he wouldn't dare say those words out loud.

Lea's face fell as he felt Riku's hand slip away from his slowly. He stood still and held his breath for what seemed like the longest time as panic swept through him like a tidal wave. Did Riku intelligently figure out the meaning behind his words?

Then Lea felt two arms wrap around his neck and a warm body press close to his.

Oh, that felt nice. That felt really nice.

"Thank you. I really needed this," he heard Riku's voice whisper. Relief washed over the redhead, glad he didn't cause any more possible trouble for Riku. The last thing his customer needed was this hopeless barista striving for his affection. "You're a great guy, Lea," Riku sighed as his eyes closed shut.

As Riku hugged him more tightly, Lea didn't stop himself from hugging back, even if his heart was beating like a bass drum in his ears.


	8. Keeping Distance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I take a while uploading these chapters, I try to do at least 3-4 chapters each time I upload just for you lovelies. I understand they are quite short, and I apologize for that. As always, leaving a review always keeps me going with a smile on my face.

The warmth from Riku's hug yesterday never left Lea, even in the morning.

He brought his camera to work and decided during his break, he would look at the images he had taken during their aquarium "non-date" since he was unable to last night. Riku had not arrived at the usual time, so Lea thought it was a good opportunity to scroll through the pictures.

A nosy Naminé peeked over his shoulder and smiled despite that she disapproved of their outgoing yesterday. "He looks so happy. It's totally worth working on Christmas, hmm?"

The redhead wrinkled his nose, mildly disgusted at the idea of working on a holiday. "Yeah, it is. We had a lot of fun and he talked to me about his fiancé. He's coming today with Riku."

"That's good," Naminé chirped, obviously gleeful at the mention of Riku's fiancé.

Then Lea had stopped by the last picture on the screen, the one Riku refused to allow Lea to look at. It was the first picture they took together. There the silverette's cheeks were a bright pink, embarrassed for some reason.

"Lea." He was expecting to hear some complaint about the image, something following the lines of him making Riku blush and that it was wrong to do so. His eyes instead followed the sound of a ringing bell coming from the door. His silver haired customer walked in and close to him was a smiling brunette.

There were two thoughts that came to Lea's mind. One, that must have been Riku's fiancé. And two, if that was the fiancé, he was so damn short, it was ridiculous.

Lea put away his camera, placing it in a cabinet right beneath the register. He smiled as Riku had walked over to him. "So this must be Sora," Lea said as exuberantly as he could.

"Yeah. Sora, this is Lea," Riku introduced the two of them.

The redhead had been expecting small talk, but he was severely wrong. "Hi, I'm Sora!" the brunette introduced himself quite excitedly and Lea was almost taken aback when the shorter male reached across the counter, took his hand, and shook it. "It's nice to meet you. How do you know Riku?"

The question came in unexpectedly, but Lea soon recovered from his dumbfounded state. "I, he's..."

The question sounded like an interrogation that any jealous boyfriend or lover would ask. However, Lea saw no signs of suspicion. Maybe it would be fun to make the little guy jealous.

"Oh, Riku?" Lea started to answer. He gave Sora a lopsided smile as his eyes shifted over to Riku with a sly look to them. "Oh, he's just my **favorite customer**."

The purposeful emphasis Lea put on the word successfully made Riku blush and look to the ground. That would sure ring some alarm or warning in Sora's brain that there was this random barista trying to hit on his man. But, Sora did nothing but exuberantly smile, and he laughed heartily. "I know! He's a great guy, isn't he?"

Lea's smile slowly dropped. When he did not have any words to say, the blonde barista saved the silence just in time by saying, "Aww, isn't that sweet? You're lucky to have each other. I'll get your orders in a second, just sit down."

Sora giggled with a scratch on the back of his head while Riku just watched indifferently, his blush never leaving his face. The two left to sit across from one another at a different table than where Riku usually sat.

Lea knew Naminé's earlier comment was to discourage him from liking Riku. "He's cute," the blonde commented with a knowing smirk.

"He's just a stupid twerp," Lea growled out underneath his breath, surprised that he sounded so aggressive. What the hell was wrong with him? He felt so...down.

"Sounds like you're jealous," Naminé whispered with a smile. The redhead gladly ignored that comment, though he had to admit it was true.

Lea may have not directly said he was interested in Riku, but the tone of his words definitely suggested it. It was enough of an emphasis for someone to notice that the redhead liked Sora's lover. The longing stare and cunning smile he had given Riku right afterward was just the screaming cherry on top.

But, Sora seemed to not pay mind to it all all. It was not that he was confident that Riku wouldn't be stolen from him. It seemed like Sora actually didn't damn well notice that Lea was so obviously FLIRTING with his fiancé.

Lea immediately contrasted Sora to himself. The redhead would have known from a mile away if some guy was trying to pick up his lover. His green eyes stared at the table in mid-thought where the couple were sitting.

The two of them were having what had looked like a happy conversation that was mainly one sided. Lea now knew that Riku's description of Sora was spot on; he was definitely more outgoing and could practically carry a conversation by himself. The redhead could hear the other's laughter and bubbly chatter all the way from his counter.

Meanwhile, Lea examined as Riku merely smiled adoringly at the male across from him. He definitely looked happier than most days he was here sipping his cold latte. It made Lea jealous that this young brown haired male made Riku smile when the redhead was doing the exact same yesterday.

"Lea, you're glaring at that boy like he killed your goldfish," Naminé commented as she strolled by the counter with two drinks in his hand. Lea blinked, unaware of the glare he had been directing at Sora for the past few minutes. "What's wrong Grumpy Red?"

"He just looks so happy with that guy," the redhead sighed, resting his chin against the flat of his palm.

"As he should be. Now stop glaring," Naminé chided with a raise of her eyebrow, walking off to give the couple their drinks.

Lea grumbled with a low breath, mocking the girl's words. He continued to stare at the two lovebirds, the cause of the silver haired male's smile irking him. It was irritating how someone that made Riku upset whenever he walked into the café could suddenly make him grin.

Lea then was about to experience something he didn't want to see. His eyes caught Riku's hand sliding across the table to lovingly hold his fiancé's. He couldn't look away, even if it infuriated him in the inside, as the silverette leaned across the table in an attempt to kiss the brunette.

Lea was half relieved, half dumbfounded as Sora had leaned back significantly in embarrassed shock, causing his chair to tip backward and him to fall to the ground. The redhead didn't have it in him to laugh as Sora scrambled up in humiliation with a blush on his face. Lea continued to watch as the scene unfolded before his eyes: Riku trying to help the short brown haired male to his feet with concern lining his features and Sora shaking his head and running off to the restroom, acting very much like an embarrassed buffoon.

A disgusted look passed Lea's face as he watched. He could have puked from the cuteness.

As Riku was standing up to fix the chair, Lea hoisted himself over the counter ungracefully and jogged over to the silverette. "I got it, don't worry," Lea assured with a wink. He bent just in time to stand the chair right back on its legs.

"Thanks," Riku sighed out, sitting back down. Lea looked at the counter to ensure he had a couple of minutes' worth of time and proceeded to sit across from the engaged male. "Sorry about the commotion."

"No problem. You just embarrassed yourself publicly, no big deal," Lea said with a shrug and a playful smile. He stared as the silver haired male's forehead made contact with the clear table, burying his face into his crossed forearms. "It wasn't that bad, really. I was joking."

When Riku glanced back up, he looked upset.

"Riku, I was just poking fun. It really wasn't bad at all," Lea quickly explained. His hands rested on the table, twitching with the need to slide across the table and hold the other male's paler ones.

"No, it's not that. I know he didn't mean to upset me, but..." Riku started with a shake of his head.

Eyelids drooped halfway to show hazy emerald orbs. Lea didn't need Riku to explain the rest because he understood. "He didn't let you kiss him," Lea completed.

"It's stupid, isn't it."

Lea watched as the silverette looked down at the table with weary depression. It may have been a silly reason in Riku's eyes, but it was something different in Lea's. The redhead understood; the weight of them not spending time together only for his fiancé to show rejection towards Riku the next moment was getting to be too much.

Riku just missed Sora and felt alone, and that was enough of a reason to be upset from Lea's point of view. The redhead would kiss Riku ten times over just so he wouldn't feel so alone...

"I would have kissed you in an instant," Lea murmured without thinking.

The jerk of Riku's head broke Lea out of his hazy stare. Why was the silverette staring at him so strangely?

"Lea? Do you really mean that?"

"Mean...what?" Lea asked back hesitantly. Then his jaw slightly dropped as Riku's face flushed.

"What you said about k-kissing me," Riku meekly answered.

From this point forward, Lea promised himself to be extra careful when speaking to the silver haired male. Did he really say that out loud? That was supposed to be kept in the safe confines of his mind. He was thankful for Sora's sudden return from the restroom so he wouldn't cause any more trouble.

"Sorry, was keeping your seat warm," Lea laughed, patting the seat for emphasis as he wasted no time in shooting right out of the seat. Riku looked down just as quick, successfully hiding his growing blush.

"Oh, that's okay!" Sora laughed, taking his seat across from Riku, still embarrassed from before.

"So, you guys doing anything romantic on Christmas? It's coming up," Lea nervously asked for small talk. He wasn't really listening as Sora began to explain that they hadn't planned on anything because Lea was too busy wondering when Riku would finally look up. "There's this nice romantic restaurant that should be opened on Christmas. You should go there," Lea suggested.

"That sounds great. Want to go Riku?"

Lea left the two at that point, awkwardly mentioning he should go back to work even if there were no customers on the line just yet. He opened the cash register to busy himself with a boring task, such as organizing the coins in their appropriate places since he always failed to do so.

The redhead only hoped that mentioning the restaurant would shift Riku's attention back to his fiancé. Lea only wanted the silver haired male to be happy and if the way to do so was to rekindle their relationship, then he was glad that he suggested a Christmas date for the two.

Lea saw that Riku's head finally lifted up and he engaged once again in his conversation with Sora. Maybe they were now discussing their upcoming date that Lea created on the spot.

But the redhead couldn't help notice that Riku's eyes kept meeting his briefly multiple times. Lea did his best to avoid contact for his own sake.

But, mainly for Riku's.


	9. Unhappy Holidays

It was finally Christmas, and excitement lit on Riku’s face.

He adjusted his snug, light blue v-neck sweater that showed a hint of his chest and collarbone along with these new jeans of his that outlined his legs and butt in what he thought would look attractive.

Tonight, Riku was planning to re-ignite romance between them. His determination came from his new friend, Lea, who had encouraged the two to spend time together.

Riku was fixing his freshly showered damp hair, running his fingers through it with some salon wax and began to style it for once, having his hair set in place, yet mainly stay soft.

Lea...the redhead clearly had a thing for him. Lea would kiss him in a heartbeat based on what he said. Riku saw himself blush in the mirror as he finished styling, running his hands through water. If he were single, he would date him. For sure.

Riku shook his head as he grabbed some foundation. He shouldn’t be thinking that in the first place. Riku  _wasn’t_  single, and that was that. After all, he was trying hard today to doll up for Sora.

Riku felt it was time. The two were sexually intimate a while back, but had never gone all the way. Riku thought about this several times, but it had not bothered him until recently. He loved kissing and cuddling with Sora, or nipping at his neck, or performing down below, but...he wanted more. The new found separation between the two had only made Riku want it so much more. He had hoped it would rekindle love between the two. And afterward, they could have a romantic dinner.

Riku finished up applying his light makeup. It was enough to enhance his beauty, yet appear natural. He gulped. He wished he was as confident as he looked.

No, Lea had worked hard to try to make him happy. Lea had encouraged him to be with Sora, despite him having a crush. Therefore, he should put himself forward and try his best for the redhead as thanks.

Riku nodded as he completed his look with a satisfied smile before heading to their bedroom. Sora should be here any moment. Riku grabbed a match from the bedside table before he began to light some candles he set up around the room. He turned off the lights, satisfied with the dim lit room, before he shuffled into a position on the bed, leg crossed over the other. He laid a hand on his hip, a shy smile resting on his lips.

Riku ran his hand through his hair before the door opened with a click, resting it back on his hip.

“I’m home,” Sora called out tiredly, coming through the door. “Huh, the lights are off...”

Riku became more confident as he adoringly stared at the brunette, smiling softly. “Merry Christmas Sora.”

Sora’s eyes finally met with Riku’s form, posed on the bed with one leg more bent than the other. “Merry Christmas Riku. Why is it so dark in here? Want me to turn on a light?”

“No,” Riku hastily answered as he sat up with a smile. “It’s, it’s fine like this, right?”

“I can barely see,” Sora chuckled out as he walked to the bedside lamp. Riku grabbed Sora’s hand before he switched on the light. “What’s wrong, Riku?”

“Don’t you think this is kind of romantic though?” Riku hinted as both his hands encased Sora’s.

“Yeah,” Sora laughed out as his eyes became nervous. “All the candles and stuff...”

Riku’s face was bright and his voice cheery as he continued to talk to Sora. “I want to take you out to dinner, there’s this restaurant that’s open. I made a reservation-“

“Oh, Riku, I can’t today. I promised that I would be doing the charity event for Christmas...”

“Oh...” The the silver haired male’s head drooped as a frown settled on his lips. No, he couldn’t let this damper his mood. He smiled again as he lifted his head up. “We won’t have time for dinner then, but we might have time for something else?”

Sora shrugged as he murmured, “Well, I’m not sure...”

“Um, I was thinking then. Maybe we could....”

“Hmm?”

Riku looked at Sora as the brunette was clueless. With a roll of his eyes and a grin, he excitedly pulled Sora in to show him what he meant instead. Riku held the sides of Sora’s face before he leaned in for a kiss. Sora’s response of his lips served as encouragement to continue, one hand leaving Sora’s cheek to begin unbuttoning the first of the brunette’s buttons on his shirt. He could feel Sora’s lips part and he took the opportunity to prod his mouth wider with his tongue, slipping inside between his lips shyly.

As Riku lowly moaned, Sora pulled away with a slight blush to his cheeks, shaking his head. “Oh, oh Riku, not tonight.”

“Sora,” Riku murmured as his fingers dug into Sora’s spikes, eyes foggy and starting to fill with lust. “I promise I’ll make you feel good.”

Sora continued to avoid eye contact with the persistent male. “Riku, it’ll look weird if I go there with me walking all funny. I’ll be around kids and families...”

“I, I can be passive,” Riku pressed further with a blush. He knew he was being pushy, but, just for once in his life, he wanted to be with Sora. Be wanted by him. He was desperately in need of his attention and affection.

Sora shook his head once more as he lightly pushed the male away. “Riku, you know I’m really exhausted. I can’t do this with you, okay?”

“But...”

“C’mon, Riku, please? I promise I’ll make it up another day. You know I’ve been super busy lately and you have to understand.”

Whenever Sora was serious, Riku would shrink back and feel guilty. He looked down for a moment, staring down at his own knees and already feeling his heart sink slowly. He has heard that line so many times.

“Next time then,” Riku responded lowly.

“Thanks for understanding, Riku,” Sora sighed out as he kissed the top of Riku’s head. “I swear, I’ll make it up to you.”

Another line Riku has grown accustomed to. He forced his head up with a smile. “Okay.”

It wasn’t long until the silver haired male was left alone in their two-story house. It was lonely when Sora had been here and felt even lonelier when he was by himself. He finally had time to let out the tears he was trying desperately to contain.

Riku couldn’t stand to be here any longer. Everywhere he looked there were photos lined up of the two in the past. He was so happy then, when Sora had given him time. Attention. Riku sobbed harder as he looked at himself in the mirror.

He couldn’t stay in this house. Riku grabbed his pea coat and threw it on quickly before heading outside into the bitter cold.

* * *

Even though he accepted his fate, Lea still didn't enjoy working on Christmas. He glanced around the café, no more than two couples sitting at tables drinking their coffees now so they can go out later. The only positive side was he could close earlier today...

Only to go back to his home where he would be spending Christmas by himself. Lea sighed, counting off his options with the fingers on his hand. Naminé was likely spending Christmas with her family. He most likely was going to receive presents through the mail from his parents.

It was depressing to say the least. Lea's mind trailed to more positive thoughts. At least Riku was going to finally be with Sora alone on this romantic holiday. But this only reminded Lea that he was even more alone.

"Man, I really need to get outside," Lea muttered to himself. He glanced at the clock, deciding to close down in less than an hour's worth of time. He would leave at five o' clock, take half an hour to close up and clean since he didn't have help, and that would leave him some time to stroll through town.

By six o' clock, it was already becoming dark. Lea prepared himself with a sweater underneath his jacket that had a hood to protect his ears from the cold. He shoved his gloved hands inside his pockets and walked past his parked car to explore his small town.

Most of the shops were closed on the holidays. The inside of the small buildings were completely black with closing signs hung on the doors. Lea strolled along this empty street, save for some cars that were parked and streetlights that were decorated with Christmas lights and wreaths. It was even snowing, perfect for a white Christmas.

Lea spotted the occasional couple that walked by, happily smiling at each other as if there were no troubles in the world. He sighed, wishing he was holding someone's hand in this brisk cold. If it was anybody's hand, he wished it would be Riku's.

_Riku._  Lea wondered how the silver haired male was doing. The days following up to Christmas, he hadn't been making the occasional stop at the coffee shop. Lea blamed Riku's disappearance on himself. If he hadn't kept his mouth shut that day, then he wouldn't have discouraged the shorter male from coming. But, that was selfish of him to want Riku to visit the shop every day.

Lea stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, glancing at the time on his phone. It was probable that Riku was dining at the restaurant now. "Maybe I could...?"

The great weight of a decision befell the redhead. It wasn't in his place to call or text the male during his date, but maybe Lea could see how content Riku was. It would make him enjoy Christmas at least a little if he heard Riku.

“He’s probably having a good time,” Lea assured himself, exhaling with disappointment as he made a decision of not to. “Yeah...”

He head back towards his workplace instead, shoes crunching the snow beneath him. As he came closer, the park came into view, where he saw a familiar figure sitting on the swing.

Lea froze in place, not believing his sight before he jogged toward the figure on the swing. As he came closer, his eyes were not deceiving him before he can conclude it was indeed Riku, sitting alone.

“Riku?” Lea called out as he walked closer. Riku stopped swaying for a moment, noticing the other male’s presence. “Riku, what are you doing here?”

There was no response from the silver haired male. Lea could hear his shallow breathing, from the cold. His head was completely facing down that Lea couldn’t see his facial features at first. On closer inspection, through the flurries of snow, he noticed a couple of drops fall from the side of jaw line.

Immediately, Lea’s hands went to Riku’s face and turned to fully look at him. He had been right. The silver haired male was crying, eyes wet and shiny from the tears that kept flowing.

“What happened?”

Lea didn’t expect the silver haired male to leap into his arms suddenly, his arms snaked tightly around his frame. The redhead made a surprised noise as Riku dug his head into his chest, now sobbing more loudly.

Lea gulped, still stunned. He couldn’t just leave Riku alone now. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around the hiccuping male, feeling his shoulders raise up and down with each sob. He felt Riku’s fingers dig into his back, holding tightly.

Lea felt compelled to move Riku from this spot. He couldn’t stand idle any longer. “Hey...let’s get you home, okay?”

“No,” he heard the shorter male gulp out as held even tighter.

Judging from his resistance to go home, Lea could only guess Sora was involved in this somehow. “Do you want to go to my house instead?” Riku lifted his head up slightly, sniffling. “We can spend Christmas together for a bit. I don’t have anything to do.”

Riku nodded as he pulled away, sniffling more

Lea wasted no time in getting Riku into a warmer environment.

“I'm going to get the fireplace working," Lea said as soon as he walked into his apartment. The two shrugged off their winter coats and Lea took Riku’s without asking, hanging it onto nearby rack.

He quickly got up to his feet and took and armful of logs next to the fireplace. He placed several sizes of wood inside along with some scrap paper, reaching for a box of matches.

"Lea, are you spending Christmas by yourself?" Riku suddenly asked as he made himself comfortable on Lea’s couch.

The question stopped Lea's hand in place. His lips slowly formed a small frown as he grabbed the small box. "Yeah. I am. Well, was.”

"It sucks. Being alone," Riku whispered, slowly sitting up. Lea turned his head towards the male who was now staring at the hands on his lap. "On a day where people are supposed to be together."

"Riku..."

"He didn’t bother," Riku stated normally, but as he looked up, his eyes were teary. “It hurts, so much."

Lea was listening as he was lighting up a match. He lit it aggressively as he heard the sadness leaking in Riku's voice. All the male experienced was depression and being alone. Riku deserved better than that.

"This is my fault," Riku muttered. Lea knew why this was making him so aggravated. Riku was so blindly in love that he didn't see the truth lying in front of him. His fiancé wasn't even there for him when Riku needed him.

"Why are you even taking the blame? This is his fault," Lea argued as he threw the match inside the pile, seeing it slowly catch fire.

"How can you blame someone who doesn't even know what he's doing?" Riku rhetorically questioned with a soft tone. Lea turned around, confused by the other's words. "You can't be mad at someone who's innocently clueless. After all, it's my fault for not telling him..."

Lea started to stab at the wood with a prong as he replied with a grunt. He couldn't believe what he was hearing right now.

"Lea, I can't be mad at him. He's very important to me," Riku slurred, running his hand over where his heart was. "He was my first friend, my first best friend, my first boyfriend, and now my fiancé. I'm pretty sure that's important," Riku sighed. "It's my fault."

Lea got up, slamming the prong onto the ground. He whipped around and looked at Riku with determination in his eyes. "I'm not going to just sit here and hear you blame yourself for this."

"Lea?"

"No, it's not your fault, okay? Why do you have to suffer through this? Why do you even bother dealing with this good for nothing...He's, he's just too clueless for you. You deserve better. You deserve to be happy. Sometimes, I wish you weren't engaged so I could show you that happiness," Lea cut off, his feet slowly closing the distance between the both of them. He felt Riku's hazy eyes on him the entire time. The redhead sat boldly next to the other male, grabbing his shoulders. "Got it memorized?"

This time, Riku did not laugh at Lea's utterance of that silly catchphrase. He sat still, inspecting Lea with curious eyes. The redhead felt warmth as a head full of silver hair laid against his shoulder, forehead pressed against his skin. “I just...want to be happy.”

Lea felt Riku shift, head now tilted upward as he could see his teal orbs, still shiny from the tears. “Even if it’s...” Riku paused for a moment before his head then rested upon his chest.

The redhead gulped as he was graced with the same warmth on his chest. His heart was already beginning to react in quite an unhealthy way. “Even if it’s...?” Lea repeated, tilting his head down.

The taller male noticed Riku’s gaze was quite different as he stared at him. “Even if it’s...”

Lea couldn’t focus on anything but the face that had looked up at him. He didn’t notice he himself was leaning down more just to feel the other’s warmth. “Yes...?”

“Just for a...” Riku trailed off as he locked eyes with Lea. The redhead’s heart pumped harder when he had noticed Riku’s face come closer to his. Lea breathed solely through his nostrils and he realized he could now feel the other’s breaths. He was ashamed when his face became warmer; he knew he was turning red. “Short while,” Riku completes wistfully. Lea was unable to turn his gaze away from Riku.

The silver haired male trembled lightly. All Lea could do was stare as Riku's face leaned in closer and closer. He was frozen to his spot on the couch, his eyes expanding as he felt the other's hot breath coat his lips.

Lea's eyes darted from Riku's nearing lips to the darkening blush on his pale features.

 


	10. Keeping Morals

Lea had wanted so badly to just stay in this perfect moment where Riku’s lips were finally going to be against his.

It took all of his might and gathered rationality to turn his head as Riku paused midway, sensing something was wrong. “Lea...?”

“I'm not going to do this because it would screw up what you have," the redhead said with a shake of his head. “I just can’t...”

"Why are you such a good person," Riku sighed. His forehead found a comfortable spot on the other's shoulder. “But, this is wrong, isn't it. I know I can't do this with you." Riku laughed dryly, finding some humor in his own misery. "Why is it when someone does the right thing, I get hurt in the end?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Sora's off somewhere doing some good for the world. He works for charity groups from the good of his heart, and one fell on Christmas. And here I am being selfish of wanting to spend time with him when he's being so selfless."

"Despite that he's doing something good, I think he should have been here with you," Lea muttered.

"I guess," Riku whispered, his fingers trailing up the redhead's chest. It wasn't a surprise that Riku could feel the thumping of Lea's heart against his ribcage. It was beating hard with like a bass drum. “I want to be honest with you.” Riku stared Lea dead straight in the eyes before he confessed. “I like you.”

At first, the last of Riku's words did not register in Lea's brain. He then sputtered nonsensical words as it finally hit him and froze. He was trying to be rationally composed, knowing those words should have never left Riku's lips.

"Riku?" Lea gulped out, using some strength to lean up only slightly. He looked down to see a pair of resting eyelids.

"Lea. There's an attraction between us, isn't there? Ever since the aquarium, I felt it. When I hugged you and you said those wonderful things, I felt something," Riku softly admitted, his eyes lifting to meet Lea's.

In the beginning, Lea would have admitted the same. But the redhead was concerned about the outcome now. He had to handle this logically, with his best concerns in Riku.

"Riku, you shouldn't like me." Lea leaned up which forced Riku to move away from him. The silverette stared at Lea with confusion as the redhead stood on his feet.

"What are you doing?" Riku questioned, but followed him suit.

"You need to get out of here," Lea advised with a deep swallow.

"Why?” Lea seized Riku by the arm, hoisting him up to his feet. He dragged him to his front door, peeking outside to see it snowing lightly on this Christmas evening. “Are you kicking me out?" Riku asked with solemn eyes. Those sea ocean orbs clearly expressed he didn't want to leave. But, staying with Riku any longer could cause them to do something they would regret. And Lea would now stop this to protect Riku's relationship.

"You have to. I'm doing this for you," Lea said as he handed Riku an umbrella. His gaze was downcast to avoid Riku's lonely stare as he opened his front door. A chill ran through the house with some light snow.

"Lea, please don't- I don't want to be alone." Lea gulped as he heard Riku's voice tremble. This was getting more difficult to do, but he just had to. “I’m sorry I tried to kiss you. Just please-“

"This is best for you," Lea explained firmly, staring at Riku. The other male looked outside, clearly distasteful of going into the cold.

"...You're right," Riku mumbled with a hurt tone, tearing his gaze away from the redhead. "Merry Christmas, Lea." Lea held his breath as Riku threw on his coat once more, opened his umbrella, and stepped outside. His arm wrapped around himself while he turned to give Lea one last sorrowful look. He kept hazy contact with the redhead before he walked away, the snow crunching underneath his feet.

Lea watched the other male somberly. His hand twitched with the need to have him stay. He second thought this decision. Was he too harsh in driving the other male away?

All Lea had wanted was for the silver haired male to finally be happy. The thought was crazy, but it soon settled in Lea’s mind. Even if he had to do something morally wrong...he would do it. Just for Riku to be happy. Even if it was just for a couple minutes.

Lea sighed out as he gave in to his empathetic nature, calling out to Riku. “Wait.”

Riku turned around questionably before he made his way back to Lea’s door. “Did I leave something?”

“Just, come here. For a second.” Lea ushered Riku until he was halfway through the door before breathing deeply. With a shaky hand, he cupped the side of Riku’s face. “I just want you to be happy.” Riku nodded as his eyes shifted towards his shoes. He loudly sniffed. Riku’s hand encased the larger one over his cheek.

Lea’s throat became tight. He closed the door to prevent the brisk cold from entering the room and sat down with Riku on the couch. Lea readjusted until he was facing the other male completely. He gulped down the knot that was forming in his throat. He brushed his thumb along Riku’s cheeks, wiping off his tears. “Just tell me what I can do to make you happy.”

Riku’s voice was quiet as he talked that Lea had to strain his ears in order to listen. “Please hold me...” he softly begged before he wrapped his hands around Lea’s neck and held on tight.

The redhead complied with this request. His arms immediately cradled around Riku’s form and pulled him in. Lea then laid there on the tight space for a couch, comforting Riku in warm solace. Every time he felt the silver haired male tremble, he embraced him closer to his chest, hand calmly threading through his head of hair in a rhythmic motion.

Lea focused on his own steady breathing. His heart was the opposite, beating strongly. He looked at Riku who dug into his chest, seeing his closed long lashes wet from tears through his now messy hair. Shaky fingers grabbed onto Lea’s back. Lea rested his eyes before realizing Riku had been semi-right about one thing.

Not only did he like him. He was in love with him.


	11. Desires

After last night, Lea expected Riku not to come in today for a coffee.

His expectations came true as he was dealing with a horde of customers. Through the wild rush of running back and forth, his eyes never met a silver head of hair. Lea's composure was slowly breaking; the combination of Riku not being there due to Lea hurting him and the loud bursting of orders from angry, impatient customers were driving him insane.

"Lea, I need a caramel macchiato now!" Naminé yelled, her hands busy with making three cups of coffee at a time. Her eyes were nearly bulging out of her head with stress, her hands frantically working.

"Okay, okay!" Lea shouted back, quickly filling a cup with hot milk and coffee. As he was preparing multiple orders, his eyes kept darting from the waves of fists to the hands holding money.

In a way, this sea of customers felt like retribution. It was well-deserved karma for yesterday.

It wasn’t as if anything happened. Lea agreed for the silver haired male to stay with him the night. Lea spent the remaining time being Riku’s pillow on the couch and even fell asleep for a short while before Riku had to return home. He was glad he helped Riku in some way, but the settling pit in his stomach and feeling as he still did something wrong upset the redhead.

It was because Lea  _wanted_  something to happen between the two. He felt like a disgusting human being.

Lea never experienced a large wave of people such as this and was not handling it as well as Naminé, despite the fact that she was flying like a madwoman now.

It was some time before the wave calmed down as the lone two coworkers finally satisfied their needs of caffeine. Lea slumped on a nearby stool behind the counter, clearly exhausted from the onslaught of orders. He stared at Naminé who was not taking the after effects so well as she was preparing herself a coffee to compensate for her stress level.

"A person can only take so much," Naminé shrilled, sipping rapidly.

"Yeah." Lea was mellowed out at this point, day slowly turning into evening outside. He drank his own coffee, his eyes drifting over to Riku's usual spot. They were so full of customers that even his seat was taken by someone else. He shouldn't be thinking about the other male, but he couldn't stop. Thankfully, Naminé did not notice his blank staring as she was too absorbed in her stress. "Maybe you should take the rest of the day off," he suggested.

"Close up for me then, will you? I need a massage." Without any hesitation, Naminé threw her towel in for the day, leaving Lea there by himself. The redhead sighed, secretly praying there wouldn't be another army of customers. He barely survived with his coworker there, but without her he would surely die.

Lea started to place the chairs upside down on the tables as he was going to close up for the night. His eyes lowered as his mind wandered to Riku once more. No matter how hard he tried to forget the hurt look on the silverette's face, it always came back to make him feel guilty.

What he did was right and healthy for Riku, but it cost him his happiness. Maybe Lea should have disregarded that he was engaged and let the two of them take it further. It would have made Riku happier.

When he looked up, Lea's jaw dropped only slightly when he saw someone standing outside the café door with an umbrella in his hand. His head of silver hair blew lightly to the left due to the wind. Hesitantly, the male walked inside, bundled up in his typical winter clothing.

"Riku, I'm about to close up," Lea stated. Riku chewed at the inside of his cheek, his eyes looking at the checkered floor. He nervously readjusted the strap on his messenger bag, hanging it loosely on his shoulder.

"I know. I just...needed to see you," Riku gulped out. "I have your umbrella," he added, bowing halfway as he presented the object in his outstretched hands. "That's why I needed to see you."

"Of course," Lea softly said, taking the umbrella. He awkwardly leaned against a table, clearing his throat. He looked around the café, keeping his eyes busy with staring at objects other than Riku's eyes. With a cough, he said, "I'm going to close now. So...”

"Yeah." Riku's bottom lip was gnawed at by his teeth, walking behind the redhead as he followed him outside. As Lea closed the door and locked it, umbrella tucked underneath his arm, he could feel Riku's stare on him from behind. A tug on his arm caused Lea to look at the man behind him. "Yesterday...thank you. For being there for me.”

Lea softly chuckled. “You’re welcome.” Lea was starting to walk around the male before his arm was pulled.

"W-wait. I need a ride home," Riku stuttered, his voice raising an octave.

The silverette seemed like he really didn't need a ride home, judging by his nervous voice. But, if Riku was not lying, Lea would regret leaving him here in the cold. So, hesitantly, he allowed the silver haired male to sit beside him on the passenger's side in his car.

"Just tell me where to go."

"I, I- go straight."

Through the ride, Lea noticed something peculiar. Every time Riku gave a direction, it was hesitant and brief. Lea heard how Riku struggled to give the next direction. He would glance over to see cyan eyes nervously flitting from the window to him. The redhead did not hold any suspicion towards Riku's odd behavior...

That was until he was driving aimlessly for more than ten minutes. As Riku was giving more directions, Lea began to see familiar landmarks he had seen fifteen minutes ago. He questioned if he already drove down this street. Wasn't that the same corner store he had passed moments ago? He could have also sworn Riku just said left four times in a row.

Lea pulled over onto a one way street, not convinced by these directions anymore. He put the car in park, turning around fully to face the male next to him. "Riku. You're not giving me the right directions, are you?"

"I...I guess I'm not. I'm sorry. I think I forgot," Riku laughed lightly. Lea noticed the movement of his fidgety fingers.

Lea sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He drove instead to his place, the trip being in a heavy, awkward silence. He slammed his door closed when they climbed out, opening his front door as Riku followed him inside. Lea immediately took a seat at his kitchen and gestures to the spot across him. Riku gulped and sat in the seat across the table.

“Are you doing this on purpose?"

"What? What, no. No way. I..." Riku denied as his words became more softer and inaudible. He shook involuntarily, shrinking in his seat due to nerves.

"Why are you doing this?" Lea asked exasperated.

"I just wanted to spend time with you," Riku softly admitted, connecting helpless eyes with confused green ones. "I didn't need a ride home...”

"You need to give me the right directions so I can take you home. Right now," Lea said seriously, a blush overcoming is features. This was getting to be too intense for him and would soon turn into something he wouldn't be able to escape.

"No, please!" Riku yelled, his voice commanding enough to grab Lea's attention. Lea looked down at his hand as it was suddenly grabbed by two gloved ones, forcing it to stay in place. "Just...just let me be happy. Let me be with you, even if it is for a couple of hours. Just, just please..."

Lea was speechless at this point. He wanted Riku to be happy and enjoy the feeling of being loved by another. At the same time, Lea wanted his relationship to be stable and strong. It wasn't fair that the two things he wanted for Riku wouldn't work out together.

"Lea, please look at me." Riku's voice sounded far off in the distance. Lea stared hard at the table. This was all so screwed up. Why was it that happiness can only be gained if there was hurt involved? Lea felt his head get turned with a persistent hand. "Please,” Riku murmured softly. "I don't know what you're thinking when you look away like that. I feel even more alone and left in the dark when you do that."

Green orbs moved and met with cyan ones. There were no words spoken out loud, but Lea's eyes carried a conversation that Riku fully understood.

Lea finally pulled in the shorter male into a warm embrace onto the couch. Recurrent troubles swelled within Lea’s mind as he held him even tighter, chin resting on the top of his head. He felt Riku gasp onto his neck, where he was currently nestled in from when Lea initially held him.

As Riku finally made eye contact, Lea was finding it more and more difficult to keep his self-promise. The other male’s eyes were so bright, only when directed towards him and he was glued to his spot by his gaze.

_‘Please stop looking at me like that,’_ Lea inwardly thought. His eyes moved about, trying to stare at a different part of Riku’s face. His eyes then hyper focused on Riku’s thin lips. He didn’t know how much longer he could resist his desire to kiss the silver haired male.

Lea deeply sighed as he tore his gaze away from the silver haired male. His mind chanted. Out of sight, out of mind. Out of sight, out of-

“What’s wrong?”

Riku’s voice cut into his thoughts. Behind his mouth, Lea’s teeth grit tightly. The warmth from Riku cuddling into him, how his breathing hit his neck from time to time; it was breaking his resolve slowly. Lea became stiff as all his concentration was going into not getting an unwarranted reaction down below.

“Am I annoying you?” Riku meekly asked.

“Gosh, no!” Lea immediately answered, but in a tone he hadn’t meant.

“I am, aren’t I,” he said more sadly with a dejected frown. “I’m sor-“

Lea couldn’t bear this. Without thinking, he suddenly grabbed the silver haired male and smoothly connected lips with him in the midst of him talking. He could feel the vibration of Riku’s surprised moan enter his mouth. Yet he didn’t stop the redhead. Lea kissed him more deeply, wanting to spur a further reaction from the shorter male.

As soon as Riku’s fingers gripped onto the front of his shirt in response, Lea pulled away to admire the person he kissed. Riku’s lips were all shiny from the exchange, his eyes heavy and lidded. Lea was unable to hide his arousal any longer before he looked at Riku with a dark, hooded stare.

“Fuck,” Lea hissed out, realizing how much worse this situation became. Wasn’t he supposed to be comforting Riku, not make things more complicated? His initial response was to turn and run.

But a persistent hand with a strong grip held his wrist. “Ah, wait!” Lea watched Riku’s face turn downward, but his eyes meekly looked up at the redhead.

“Damn it,” Lea grumbled out as he slapped his forehead. “Riku, you need to le....ave.”

The sharp look on Riku’s face made Lea fall silent. “You said that you’d do anything to make me happy,” Riku interrupted with a stern voice. “So please just...” The silver haired male buried into Lea’s chest. He mumbled something unintelligible into the fabric of his shirt.

“What?”

Riku huffed before standing and walking away from the redhead. Lea got stunned into silence once more before he followed Riku, who was drumming his fingers on the counter. Lea narrowed his eyebrows before walking more closely. “You kiss me and then you tell me to go.”

“I’m trying to do what’s right for you, that’s why,” Lea said exasperated. “I shouldn’t have done that and now I’m trying to get you to leave. I can’t dig you into a bigger hole because of my mistakes. Just.” Lea sighed out trying to sound more calm. “What do you want.”

“I want _you_ ,” Riku whispered with a murmur. Lea felt chills along his arms at the confession. He could see the very end of Riku’s flushed cheek. His feet walked on their own towards the silver haired male. “But that’s wrong-“

Riku gasped as a hand held the counter in front of him, body encased. He felt the warmth of Lea’s hand on his hip even through his sweater as he was pulled in more closely, snug against the front of Lea’s body.

A fiery warmth enveloped Riku. His heart was racing as he felt Lea’s lips ghost against the back of his neck. “You really shouldn't tell a man that, Riku...it just makes this harder.”

Riku’s skin prickled with goosebumps. Lea’s voice was weak with restraint that may disappear at any moment. Riku had a good guess on what that decision might have been. He turned fully around, finding that there was barely space between the two of them. He looked up into emerald eyes. Did he want this?

Lea scratched the back of his hair nervously. He pressed his forehead against Riku’s sighing longingly. Riku's eyes nervously flitting to Lea’s. His hands shook as he pulled Lea’s face in for an innocent kiss.

When they slightly pulled away, Lea whispered, “Are you sure?”

Riku gulped. He knew what Lea had been insinuating. He was so close to the redhead, heat emanating from his body like a boiler. How would Lea feel if his body was bare against his? Riku wanted to feel Lea, needed contact. Needed love and want in some way, shape, or form. He kissed Lea again, except this time not so innocently. More spicy than sweet.

More confident, Riku kept eye contact with Lea. He couldn’t trust in his voice to speak, but his eyes unfolded his desires and Lea completely understood. 

Riku stifled a gasp as Lea clasped his hand with hooded promising eyes, following the redhead to his bedroom.

 


End file.
